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Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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New laws offer nuclear industry incentives for existing power plant uprates
This year, the U.S. nuclear industry received a much-needed economic boost that could help preserve operating nuclear power plants and incentivize upgrades that extend their lifespan and power output.
Signed into law in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act offers production tax credits (PTCs) for existing nuclear power plants and either PTCs or investment tax credits (ITCs) for new carbon-free generation. These credits could make power uprates—increasing the maximum power level at which a commercial plant may operate—a much more appealing option for utilities.
Wasim Raza, Kwang-Yong Kim
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 161 | Number 2 | February 2009 | Pages 245-254
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE161-245
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In this work multiobjective shape optimization of a 19-pin wire-wrapped fuel assembly is carried out using a hybrid multiobjective evolutionary approach in order to achieve an acceptable compromise between two competing objectives, i.e., enhancement of heat transfer and reduction of friction loss. Two nondimensional variables, wire-spacer diameter to fuel rod diameter ratio and wire-wrap pitch to fuel rod diameter ratio, are chosen as design variables. The response surface approximation method is used to construct the surrogate with objective function values calculated by means of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes analysis of the flow and heat transfer. The shear stress transport turbulence model is used as a turbulence closure. The optimization results are processed by the Pareto-optimal method. The Pareto-optimal solutions are obtained using a combination of the evolutionary algorithm NSGA-II and a local search method. The Pareto-optimal front for the wire-wrapped fuel assembly has been obtained. With an increase in the wire-spacer diameter, both heat transfer and friction loss in the assembly increase. The design with higher heat transfer on the Pareto-optimal curve shows not only a lower maximum temperature but also a more uniform temperature distribution on the cross section of the assembly in comparison with the other designs.